Eighth in the Bound Hearts erotic romance series. The threesome focus is on Keiley, Mac, and Jethro Riggs and, yeah, a bit out of the main stream for this series, as this story takes place on Mac's family farm in North Carolina.My TakeThis is my favorite of the series. I think it's the kitchen...no, seriously, I like this one for the depth to which Leigh takes the characters. It's more of a psychological exploration with the protagonists with the added sensuality of the sex, as well as a peep at what makes a serial stalker tick. I doubt we could ever learn what makes a woman like Delia think…There's such an amazing sweetness in this story, so much caring between Mac, Keiley, and Jethro, but also between them and the McCoys' friends in Scotland Neck. All three of them are highly moral people; they just have a bit of a kink. I just love how all their friends rally round---even Mr. Staten! A nice combination of decent people, scary suspense, and hot, dominant loving. I like Kei's feisty approach to Mac and their friends especially that Maxine. What a firecracker she is! Neither Kei nor Maxine take any shit from anyone and they are so supportive of each other.Mac is so sneaky! He knows very well what Jethro is expecting when he summons him to be his third. And Mac [and we] know what he really intends. Keiley is fascinated by the idea, but she worries about how it could affect her love for Mac. How wrong it is to move beyond a mental fantasy and make it a reality. Oh, man, when you read the back history on each of the primary protagonists...you just wanna cry. I think Jethro's experience was the worst. I just can't imagine family doing something like this to one another.I really only have one whine and that's when Max takes Keiley to task for missing meetings, I'm missing something. As far as I can tell, Keiley only missed one meeting. What's the big deal?The StoryMac and Kei have been married a few years now. Just long enough for them to be a bit too comfortable. For Mac to miss the options available through the Sinclair Club. For Kei to start wondering more actively about the rumors she had heard about Mac. About Jethro. To wonder what it would be like.Then Kei starts losing things. A dress she can't find. A comb going missing. Perfume, a pen. Nothing you'd notice in the normal span of life. Little things that don't mean anything unless it's part of a stalker's routine.The ladies' organization to which Kei belongs has been planning their annual fair to raise money for charitable causes and two of its leading lights are Victoria Staten and her daughter-in-law, Delia Staten. Victoria befriended Mac decades ago. Giving him an outlet away from his abusive father. Delia. Delia is another story. Oh, she befriended Mac too, years ago. But she's a viper, out to hurt anyone she can and Mac got away before she could get her teeth into him. Now he's back. With a wife. Not that that could stop Delia Staten.Then there's Mac's old partner from the FBI, Jethro Riggs. It hasn't been the same for Jethro since Mac retired. Got married. Without Mac's warming influence, Jethro has been getting colder and more remote. More enforced leaves of absence from the agency for unprovoked violence. With this latest forced leave and Mac's sexual restlessness, Mac asks Jethro to come down for a visit. A visit that both excites and terrifies Kei.The CharactersKeiley Hardin McCoy is a computer analysis and programming expert who works from home. She's fit into Mac's old hometown quite well, serving on a number of committees and participating in the community. She's extremely sensitive to gossip due to what her parents put her through.John "Mac" McCoy is a former FBI agent, who specialized in undercover sex crimes along with Jethro Riggs, an FBI agent who spends more time on suspension than actually working. Joseph McCoy had been Mac's father and totally irrational and vicious. Debra was Mac's timid mother. Ian Sinclair is the man who introduced Mac to the joys of sharing. Wes Bridges is the trainer Mac employs on the farm. Pappy is an old farm dog who moved on in when Mac and Keiley moved in.Maxine Bright has become Keiley's best friend since she moved to Scotland Neck; her husband, Joseph, is a banker and a former cop. Maxine's sister, Fayrene, is insisting that her husband, Chase Sinclair, a Ranger home recuperating, invite his Army buddy for the summer. Tobias Blackwood is the young friend his father insisted he bring round for dinner; now he's the sheriff.Delia Staten is a bitch, and she's never forgiven Mac for leaving town over fifteen years ago without her. Robert Staten is her husband, running the various family enterprises. Victoria Leia Staten is Delia's mother-in-law, and the most influential woman in the county. I can't tell who Jethro's direct boss is, it's either Director Richard Williams or Director Scarborough; I do know both are mighty sick of Jethro. Dell is a fellow FBI agent and investigating the stalker they've nicknamed the Playboy Stalker. Cameron is head of security for Sinclair's Club and Jethro's cousin; he's offered Jethro a job anytime he wants to leave the FBI. He's seriously considering it. Chet Waterson had a party with some very revealing pictures posted. Gladsteen is a networking expert; she'll explode a swath through the county.The CoverThe cover feels very much like Mac and Kei with its narrow revealment reflecting the serial stalker preying upon Kei. The title is totally accurate as well with all that Kei has thought forbidden for her peace of mind, for the antics she, Mac, and Jethro engage upon, the exposure.The title is too accurate, for Keiley's scruples cause her to believe this is a Forbidden Pleasure.
I enjoyed this book, just as I have enjoyed all the Lora Leigh books I've read, but I've yet to read one of hers that thoroughly captured me. I guess it's just something about her writing that doesn't completely engage me in the stories.Though this book is the eighth book in the Bound Hearts series, it can be read as a stand-alone with no problems. The characters are all new (as far as I can remember) and the basic premise of the series is easy to understand reading the beginning of this book. So if you considering reading this book, you can do it without reading the backlist...though I do recommend reading them! They're great.In this story, John "Mac" McCoy and Jethro Riggs both came from traumatic childhoods that scarred them emotionally. They spent years as FBI partners...and as partners as another sort. Both enjoyed threesomes and whenever one was involved with a woman, the other was inevitably invited to join. It soothed the darkness inside them and built a bond stronger than blood.Then Jethro met Keiley and though he'd never admit it, he fell in love. But he didn't believe he could give her what she needed...she was innocence personified, after all so he steered her toward his best friend. Mac instantly fell for her and the two soon married. Mac had every intention of inviting Jethro into their bed...eventually...but not until Keiley was ready for it. She was too battered emotionally, too innocent to jump into a menage too quickly. So to separate himself from his old life, he resigns his membership in Ian Sinclair's Club (a place where men who enjoyed threesomes could gather), quit job as an FBI agent and moved Keiley back to his farm in his hometown.Now, three years later, Mac sense Keiley is finally ready for Jethro to join them...though she'd never outright admit it. She's too afraid of what others will think (a result of her father's betrayal). So he sets out to seduce her into it. What neither Keiley nor Jethro know, though, is that Mac has no intention of this being a temporary thing. He plans for Jethro to stay permanently.I think this is the most well-rounded of the Bound Hearts books yet. Which is not surprising given that it's the first full-length, mainstream release (the previous ones being short Ellora's cave books). The characters have much more depth, the emotions more solid, the storyline more prominent. Which makes this story much more real.And I'm always a fan of Menage HEA stories. I enjoy reading about people who aren't afraid to step outside the norm to find their happiness. So that part of this story gets two thumbs up from me.The beginning started out a little slow. It seemed to keep circling around the same thing - the emergence of Mac darker sexuality and Keiley's confusion - a little too much. But once Jethro joins in the story, it gets more interesting.I didn't quite like Mac's manipulativeness. For three years he hides a part of his nature from his wife. Keiley had an idea it was there, but she was given reason to believe he'd put those desires behind him. I just thought it was kinda wrong. Then the way he brought Jethro in...just inviting him their, deciding they'd seduce her into it...I don't know, it didn't seem quite right. But it wasn't a huge deal for me. Just a minor thing.The sex was ...whew! Super hot stuff there. I thought Leigh did a great job conveying Keiley's emotions and confusion over the situation. It was very realistic. And I loved Jethro. Dark, brooding heroes always suck me in ;)There is also a nice suspense angle to the book. One of Mac's cases comes back to haunt them - the Playboy stalker. And Mac and Jethro have to figure out who he is before Keiley's life is endangered. It gave the story a little more meat to it so it wasn't all about sex. And then there was the vengeful woman from Mac's past causing havoc. Another nice angle.So overall, this was an enjoyable book and a great addition to the series. It didn't make it to a five-star rating for me...and I'm not even sure why...but it was definitely a solid four-star. If you've read the other Bound Hearts book, then I think you'll definitely like this one. And if you just like Menage HEA books, then this is one to try.
What do You think about Forbidden Pleasure (2007)?
This was my favorite of the Bound Hearts series. I think I've read 4 so far and this was the best story. Newly married Keiley and Mac. He used to be a member of this 3-some club and he's given it up for the last 3 years to be exclusively with his wife. By the way, the 3-some are 2 guys and a girl. Jethro used to be his 3rd and when she starts wanting to bring a spark back to their relations and asks about his past, he says she's opened up a pandora's box and now Jethro's coming to visit after staying away for those 3 years. Yes, I know, what?! Can't a girl ask her own husband about his sexual past and not have that mean she wants to try everything he did, including the sheep thing? (Okay, slight exaggeration.) Actually, the book was great and the story was good too, suspenseful and not the usual "Ho-hum, another Oreo sandwich?" Very hot sexual scenes. Would recommend this book.
—Carolyn F.
Didn't even finish this one. This series hasn't really played out well for me. I don't really care for the whole forced seduction angle and that's exactly what it was. This one was far worse for me in my opinion. It seemed like Keiley only wanted to be a good wife and to please her husband. When it becomes obvious (to her) that he can't be happy with her unless he's sharing her with another man (wtf, right?) she does it out of love.This was the first book in the series to feature characters who were not previously mentioned and it was also the first to include an actual threat to the character's happiness in the form of a killer.While I did not finish it, it's not hard to figure out how it ends since the author pretty much gives it away within the first twenty pages. I got bored and was uninspired by these characters, so I quit reading and the next stories in the series haven't sounded any better so I think I'm officially done with both the series and the author.
—Jessica Weissenburger
What I like about Lora Leigh books is they go beyond the hot scenes with kinky fantasy guys - they have plots and characters and visual settings. This one has a well done stalker plot - although I'm not sure the bad guy's hiding place is very feasible. The romance plot starts 3 years into a marriage where the hero has been treating the heroine like a 19th century maiden - very vanilla even though that is not his usual taste. Now he's bringing along his darker tastes [without discussing any of this with her:] and expects her to adjust and accept. He is manipulating her to accept Jethro [hard to take that name too seriously:] into their bed with the eventual hope to make the menage permanent. [Again, he does not discuss this with her OR Jethro.:] The romance plot is further complicated with small town innuendo and gossip.Personally, I liked Jethro a whole lot better... Mac needed to be smacked on occasion.Very useful book if you need to steam the wallpaper off the walls...
—Cindy
